The 4G Review Everyone Seems Afraid to Write?

If Big Banger Original got drunk one night, and in a moment of weakness shagged Wilson Enduro Gold, Luxilon 4G would be the closest thing I can imagine to their love-child.

The string is a paradigm of mediocrity, and their marketing campaign and top tier pricing should be a case study for those who wish to charge more than anyone else for something that isn't quite as good as everything else.

They say it doesn't lose tension, they say it plays very similarly from start to finish. I say that isn't much of an accomplishment if it isn't particularly good.

Bragging that you ran the same speed and didn't get tired for your entire race isn't particularly impressive if you were just jogging along at a leisurely pace.

On to the real review.

I strung the 4G in a full job, at 48lbs in my BLXPS90.

The first thing I did was grab a main string with my fingers and pull it; the string hardly snapped back. My initial reaction to this was "Dafuq?". Of what value to a hitter is a poly that doesn't snap back? I say none.

At 48# in my frame this thing should be lively as all get out. It wasn't. It had a little less pop than most good polys do when they are totally dead and just about to break.

I could hit the ball pretty much wherever I wanted to with the stuff, as long as I didn't need to hit a real dipper or sharp angle.

It has some grip to it, but bite isn't the right word. Real poly like ALU or Orig, or Ace digs into the ball, biting into the felt and holds onto the ball until it leaves the stringbed. This string doesn't have that, it feels like it just kind of sticks to the string a bit because the string has a bit of a rubbery property. If you have ever played with Enduro Gold, Pacific Poly Force Extreme, or Polyfibre TCS then you know exactly what I am talking about.

In fact, the closest string I have ever played to this is Pacific Poly Force Extreme. Except the Pacific feels amazing, and volleys stellarly; this doesn't.

It feels kind of dead, kind of rubbery, kind of plasticy, really underwhelming, but not harsh or bad, just blah.

Groundstrokes are ok with it, it has enough grip to get a little bit of spin on the ball; the slower you hit the better it works, but when you start to swing faster you eclipse the stuff's threshold for grabbing the ball and it kind of just stops adding spin to the ball. My shots seemed to gravitate to a flatter trajectory, not a bullet, but maybe 3' net clearance with a little hump because if I launched it any higher I couldn't get enough on it to get it to come back down without deliberately looping the ball. When the time came to starch a ball, you were on your own. I got a few eye high forehands that I decided to lay into, and it seemed like the string looked at me with the scrunched up eyes look a woman gives you when she says "You want to do what?". I think the 4G shines brightest on the backhand slice, seemed to be really nice if you put some weight into it, but not so much on the block slices.

I give it a B- on groundies.

In the forecourt it is ok, my only minor complaint was that it doesn't have quite enough oomph on stretch half volleys. Everything else I could get used to in a week or two. The string did one really weird thing: on backhand block slices, or backhand block volleys especially on but not limited to slowish balls, the ball would leave the stringbed at a MUCH lower trajectory than expected. I have no idea why, but balls which I thought would clear the net by 6" hit the middle of the net. This was no fluke either, happened on 15 or so balls. It was totally normal on anything I leaned into but for sure I had to make an adjustment before we started playing doubles. It was nothing that couldn't be adjusted for so really just a curiosity. It didn't have much feel up at the net or in the forecourt, but it is a poly, and rare is the poly which does. I have been volleying with poly for a pretty long time, so I have low expectations in that department, and it wasn't bothersome to me at all.

I give it a B in forecourt/volleys.

Serves were pretty darned nice. Clean clean clean ball. Not a nasty kicking nail spitting ball, but went where I wanted and bounced or spun a bit. I wasn't getting the big air on the bounce, nor the big steam, but it was certainly serviceable. (pun intended)

I give it a B+ in serving.

Returns were OK, about the same as groundstrokes. A little more pop when I was stretched out and needed to put a swing on the ball would have been nice.

I give it a B- in returning.

I hit with it for about half an hour, played some loose assorted serving points then played 3 sets of dubs. It is notched pretty deeply, especially in the top of the bed where I hit when I serve. I will hit with Mr. Pickle9 tonight and see if it breaks, but the stuff doesn't seem much more durable than ALU. He will be able to hopefully give some feedback on the quality of my shots compared to my normal setup.

The string certainly isn't terrible, it is playable for sure. Better even than most of the crap out there. It would be ideal for the teaching pro or serious rec player who had strokes which were more classic, and wanted to just string his sticks and forget about them, have them play the same all the time because it didn't really matter since he usually played with people he was much better than, but still have them not suck if he needed to play a set here or there.

I know a lot of people who fit that description, and I would sincerely recommend this string to them, if it was $9. But it isn't $9, it is $17, and I see no earthly reason for someone to buy it at that price. The stuff doesn't play any better than dead ALU, so if you want a string that doesn't lose tension, and plays the same all the time, string with something good, let a friend play with it while it is good, then once it dies have him give it to you, and you will be thrilled.

7-8 hours on the court all day, hitting 1000s of balls and varieties of feeds, with the vast majority of his clients being ladies who lunch, middle aged guys, kids, beginners, club hackers who want to make the Tour, the odd talented junior etc.

His arm would disintegrate in no time. It's not even a feel based string.

Pretty fair review in most parts though. 4G is a control orientated, relatively low powered, directionally accurate, stiff poly but which doesn't offer a huge amount of 'grab' or bite on the ball. It's also a string, which over time, will be hard on the arm.

I still vastly prefer Alu over this string, even if it does last only 2-3 hours. That initial crispness and confidence that it give is just sublime. Good shout out regarding Pacific Poly Force / Poly Force Extreme though. I'm surprised that it doesn't get more coverage on these forums. Then again, there's not much branding or hype surrounding it....

If Big Banger Original got drunk one night, and in a moment of weakness shagged Wilson Enduro Gold, Luxilon 4G would be the closest thing I can imagine to their love-child.

The string is a paradigm of mediocrity, and their marketing campaign and top tier pricing should be a case study for those who wish to charge more than anyone else for something that isn't quite as good as everything else.

They say it doesn't lose tension, they say it plays very similarly from start to finish. I say that isn't much of an accomplishment if it isn't particularly good.

Bragging that you ran the same speed and didn't get tired for your entire race isn't particularly impressive if you were just jogging along at a leisurely pace.

On to the real review.

I strung the 4G in a full job, at 48lbs in my BLXPS90.

The first thing I did was grab a main string with my fingers and pull it; the string hardly snapped back. My initial reaction to this was "Dafuq?". Of what value to a hitter is a poly that doesn't snap back? I say none.

At 48# in my frame this thing should be lively as all get out. It wasn't. It had a little less pop than most good polys do when they are totally dead and just about to break.

I could hit the ball pretty much wherever I wanted to with the stuff, as long as I didn't need to hit a real dipper or sharp angle.

It has some grip to it, but bite isn't the right word. Real poly like ALU or Orig, or Ace digs into the ball, biting into the felt and holds onto the ball until it leaves the stringbed. This string doesn't have that, it feels like it just kind of sticks to the string a bit because the string has a bit of a rubbery property. If you have ever played with Enduro Gold, Pacific Poly Force Extreme, or Polyfibre TCS then you know exactly what I am talking about.

In fact, the closest string I have ever played to this is Pacific Poly Force Extreme. Except the Pacific feels amazing, and volleys stellarly; this doesn't.

It feels kind of dead, kind of rubbery, kind of plasticy, really underwhelming, but not harsh or bad, just blah.

Groundstrokes are ok with it, it has enough grip to get a little bit of spin on the ball; the slower you hit the better it works, but when you start to swing faster you eclipse the stuff's threshold for grabbing the ball and it kind of just stops adding spin to the ball. My shots seemed to gravitate to a flatter trajectory, not a bullet, but maybe 3' net clearance with a little hump because if I launched it any higher I couldn't get enough on it to get it to come back down without deliberately looping the ball. When the time came to starch a ball, you were on your own. I got a few eye high forehands that I decided to lay into, and it seemed like the string looked at me with the scrunched up eyes look a woman gives you when she says "You want to do what?". I think the 4G shines brightest on the backhand slice, seemed to be really nice if you put some weight into it, but not so much on the block slices.

I give it a B- on groundies.

In the forecourt it is ok, my only minor complaint was that it doesn't have quite enough oomph on stretch half volleys. Everything else I could get used to in a week or two. The string did one really weird thing: on backhand block slices, or backhand block volleys especially on but not limited to slowish balls, the ball would leave the stringbed at a MUCH lower trajectory than expected. I have no idea why, but balls which I thought would clear the net by 6" hit the middle of the net. This was no fluke either, happened on 15 or so balls. It was totally normal on anything I leaned into but for sure I had to make an adjustment before we started playing doubles. It was nothing that couldn't be adjusted for so really just a curiosity. It didn't have much feel up at the net or in the forecourt, but it is a poly, and rare is the poly which does. I have been volleying with poly for a pretty long time, so I have low expectations in that department, and it wasn't bothersome to me at all.

I give it a B in forecourt/volleys.

Serves were pretty darned nice. Clean clean clean ball. Not a nasty kicking nail spitting ball, but went where I wanted and bounced or spun a bit. I wasn't getting the big air on the bounce, nor the big steam, but it was certainly serviceable. (pun intended)

I give it a B+ in serving.

Returns were OK, about the same as groundstrokes. A little more pop when I was stretched out and needed to put a swing on the ball would have been nice.

I give it a B- in returning.

I hit with it for about half an hour, played some loose assorted serving points then played 3 sets of dubs. It is notched pretty deeply, especially in the top of the bed where I hit when I serve. I will hit with Mr. Pickle9 tonight and see if it breaks, but the stuff doesn't seem much more durable than ALU. He will be able to hopefully give some feedback on the quality of my shots compared to my normal setup.

The string certainly isn't terrible, it is playable for sure. Better even than most of the crap out there. It would be ideal for the teaching pro or serious rec player who had strokes which were more classic, and wanted to just string his sticks and forget about them, have them play the same all the time because it didn't really matter since he usually played with people he was much better than, but still have them not suck if he needed to play a set here or there.

I know a lot of people who fit that description, and I would sincerely recommend this string to them, if it was $9. But it isn't $9, it is $17, and I see no earthly reason for someone to buy it at that price. The stuff doesn't play any better than dead ALU, so if you want a string that doesn't lose tension, and plays the same all the time, string with something good, let a friend play with it while it is good, then once it dies have him give it to you, and you will be thrilled.

J

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Nice work.. I have been saying the same thing since I playtested it for TW. The string is ave at best... worth $17.00, not in a 1,000,000 years. Wilson Hyped this stuff to the max... Just like a bad movie, the studios pay big bucks when they know they have a flop and try to market the thing to death. Folks on this site also talked about using this a cross with natty gut.. You can not be serious!!! Any of the poly offerings from Tourna are better. You can get the same results using Gosen Polylon or the new Dunlop Ice.. which is $68.00 a reel.

Racquet brand and model used for test
-Borris Becker DC London (Leather grip and lead at 3/9 & 5/7)

Power of test string
-Very low power. I was able to swing away (granted that a proper stroke was used) on ground strokes. I found myself having to work pretty hard to get the ball deep. Probably lost a bit of pace on the 2nd serve

Feel
-Coming from livelier strings, this was surprisingly not as dead as I thought it would be. It was also pretty comfortable for someone who has suffered from GE. Ground strokes where rewarded with solid feedback when in the sweet spot. Off centered shots weren't as jarring as I'd expect. Overheads/serves also felt nice. I enjoyed half volleys with this, finding myself just using my momentum of moving towards the net to help get the ball back. At the net was pretty fun too. Cutting off solid ground strokes with the low powered strings plus the control was great. The ball would just drop and stay low.

Spin
-With the low power of the string I had to increase the racquet head speed through contact. This seemed to give the ball some nice spin but not as much spin as I expected. I was still was able to deliver a heavy ball that would jump. I found my Live Wire set up to pocket the ball better and producing decent amount of spin with the same or even less effort than with the 4G. Loopy strokes where a bit more rewarding though and the poly strings would slide and snap back.

Comfort
-Again, pretty comfortable for someone who suffered from GE and has stayed away from poly for almost a year. I played during the early morning, mid day, and a night match. Granted it is summer and the evenings aren't that cold, I was happy to not have any discomfort when the evening temps came around

Durability
-With about 4.5 hours of doubles and 1.5 hours of singles, the string shows a little bit of notching. I think I could get another 10 hours before it breaks or before a pair of scissors finds their way to it.

Tension maintenance (how long before it became too loose or unplayable)
-I played with the strings about 12 hours after it was strung. It took about 10-15 minutes before I got comfortable with the poly. I could feel a slight change in the bed as it seemed to settle. Tension seemed to be very consistent for about 5 hours with maybe a tiny bit of tension loss. Strings would slide back easily and only towards the end of my last game did I see the strings stick a bit (if only a little bit). That was during the night game. I will see how they play during the day over the weekend.

Control (predictable trajectory? performance on different strokes and swing speeds?)
-With the loss of pace on the serves, I did find myself to have nice control over a shot down the T or out wide. Same type of control (but not as much action compared to Live Wire) on my slice and kick serves.

Return of serve was pretty nice and I found myself thinking I had tons of real-estate hitting cross court in doubles because of the control of the string. Should I need to whip it down the alley, I just needed to change my follow through or wrist snap a bit more.

With keeping the eye on the ball through contact, I was confident on the direction of my ground strokes to either the back hand or fore hand of my opponent. Most of the shots I found favorable with this string where semi flat. I would hit through the ball with just a bit of topspin for good measure. I could hit a bit more topspin but I was getting tired having to really explode on the ball through contact towards the end of my singles match.
Compare to the string you use most often
-You really have to earn everything from this string. I think a well conditioned player with a full and fast swing will benefit from this 4G string. Either a semi flat or even a topspin player would enjoy this. It has more control and predictability than my multi set up. With I played with same level of player or lower for me I found myself doing well with the 4G. With higher level and heavy paced balls, I had trouble since my preparation wasn't as fast as it should be. Live Wire XP has more free power and I think helps me when facing stronger and better opponents.

Tension recommendations (after hitting it, would you recommend a different tension? Why?)
-I wouldn't hesitate to use the same tension. The only reason I'd go lower than 48 lbs is to experiment on the low tension train of thought for polys and maybe a bit more spin.

Summary: List 1 or 2 primary likes and dislikes.
-Likes
Control and low power of the string (able to swing away)
-Dislikes
Low power of the string get's to you when you are tired or not as well seasoned as other players. The set up is not forgiving if the player doesn't have good racquet head speed through contact. I also didn't like how there wasn't as much action or movement of the ball as compared to Live Wire XP or a couple other poly's I've tried before my elbow got hurt.

The stuff doesn't play any better than dead ALU, so if you want a string that doesn't lose tension, and plays the same all the time, string with something good, let a friend play with it while it is good, then once it dies have him give it to you, and you will be thrilled.

J

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This is so brilliant, they might sue you!
You should have tried it in a hybrid though...

Nice work.. I have been saying the same thing since I playtested it for TW. The string is ave at best... worth $17.00, not in a 1,000,000 years. Wilson Hyped this stuff to the max... Just like a bad movie, the studios pay big bucks when they know they have a flop and try to market the thing to death. Folks on this site also talked about using this a cross with natty gut.. You can not be serious!!! Any of the poly offerings from Tourna are better. You can get the same results using Gosen Polylon or the new Dunlop Ice.. which is $68.00 a reel.

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Weren't you gushing about how great it is in a hybrid with gut? Pardon me if I'm thinking of someone else.

Jolly, isn't that the reason why the Pros love this string so much. It is very predictable, low powered string with pinpoint accuracy. Much like the Pros use mostly low powered, precision based graphite frames these days. Pros want very predictable power and precision based on feel. and that is what they want out of the strings too.

Jolly, isn't that the reason why the Pros love this string so much. It is very predictable, low powered string with pinpoint accuracy. Much like the Pros use mostly low powered, precision based graphite frames these days. Pros want very predictable power and precision based on feel. and that is what they want out of the strings too.

only one shall leave the ring alive, the victor will be granted nothing but the best

johny walker red label

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Not to worry mate, I will just lead him in circles around the ring and let him dig a deeper hole by continuing to say dimwitted things. Then he will **** off once he gets tired of everybody laughing at him.

Even though I am a fan of 4G I mostly agree with you. Recently I tried full bed 4G and with a softer poly cross and HATED it. Everything you wrote is dead on.

But as a cross for gut mains I've found nothing else that performs as well. It doesn't provide as much spin potential as other poly crosses but still far more than full bed gut. With VS/4G I get casually accessible spin.

But the real advantage of gut/4G is the control and comfort. Full bed 4G is NOT comfortable imo. But with gut mains I have zero arm issues in spite of my sensitive arm.

And the control is absolutely amazing! With other poly crosses as the poly dies I steadily lose control. With 4G crosses I can paint the lines and hit with confidence. When I make a mistake there's no question in my mind that it was poor technique and not the hardware. With other poly crosses I will sometimes be surprised at the depth or direction of the shot and be left with the feeling that I'm spraying balls in unintended directions.

I've noted in previous posts that I get the feeling that 4G is specifically designed as a cross for gut. It's huge stiffness value and poor spin performance in full bed makes it a non-starter for me in that configuration. But it complements gut mains perfectly by exploiting the gut's comfort while simultaneously taming its power and matching its low tension loss.

In that context I'd like to add to your Review that Everyone Seems Afraid to Write: Luxilon probably designed 4G as a cross for gut but could never market it as such because the bean counters would freak out. In full bed or as a main with softer crosses it's terrible. But as a cross for natural gut it's absolutely perfect imo. I've tested a boatload of poly crosses and was resigned to never finding one that aged as nicely as the gut mains. 4G seems to be the Holy Grail for gut/poly uses who want some level of durability with respect to tension loss and maintenance of control and comfort (4G will still but through the mains but not nearly as fast as shaped polys such as Focus Hex).

Even though I am a fan of 4G I mostly agree with you. Recently I tried full bed 4G and with a softer poly cross and HATED it. Everything you wrote is dead on.

But as a cross for gut mains I've found nothing else that performs as well. It doesn't provide as much spin potential as other poly crosses but still far more than full bed gut. With VS/4G I get casually accessible spin.

But the real advantage of gut/4G is the control and comfort. Full bed 4G is NOT comfortable imo. But with gut mains I have zero arm issues in spite of my sensitive arm.

And the control is absolutely amazing! With other poly crosses as the poly dies I steadily lose control. With 4G crosses I can paint the lines and hit with confidence. When I make a mistake there's no question in my mind that it was poor technique and not the hardware. With other poly crosses I will sometimes be surprised at the depth or direction of the shot and be left with the feeling that I'm spraying balls in unintended directions.

I've noted in previous posts that I get the feeling that 4G is specifically designed as a cross for gut. It's huge stiffness value and poor spin performance in full bed makes it a non-starter for me in that configuration. But it complements gut mains perfectly by exploiting the gut's comfort while simultaneously taming its power and matching its low tension loss.

In that context I'd like to add to your Review that Everyone Seems Afraid to Write: Luxilon probably designed 4G as a cross for gut but could never market it as such because the bean counters would freak out. In full bed or as a main with softer crosses it's terrible. But as a cross for natural gut it's absolutely perfect imo. I've tested a boatload of poly crosses and was resigned to never finding one that aged as nicely as the gut mains. 4G seems to be the Holy Grail for gut/poly uses who want some level of durability with respect to tension loss and maintenance of control and comfort (4G will still but through the mains but not nearly as fast as shaped polys such as Focus Hex).

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I liked it full bed in a Vcore Tour 97. All TW playtesters liked it full bed in their review on 4g. So, its a matter of opinion.

I liked it full bed in a Vcore Tour 97. All TW playtesters liked it full bed in their review on 4g. So, its a matter of opinion.

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Absolutely! I know some full poly uses who hate gut/poly because they feel it's too powerful and being a fan of lower powered setups I certainly understand why they feel that way. There are folks in our area that swear by full bed 4G too.

My comments on full bed 4G can apply to just about any full bed poly for me since I've never found one really comfortable to me. But given 4G's low tension loss and incredible control I can see how a full poly user would enjoy it compared to other full bed polys.

This is my curse: I love gut's comfort and control but prefer less power and want more spin. This is why I think 4G performs so well with gut mains. I get the spin of gut/poly and great comfort and control for a longer period of time compared to other poly crosses.

One thing I don't understand about full poly though is the idea that it provides huge spin potential. I've tested a bunch of them in full bed (Tour Bite, RPM, Big Hitter Black, Black Widow, etc.) and nothing has provided the casually accessible spin of gut/poly. With these full polys I needed to focus on generating spin while with a good gut/poly spin is a natural byproduct of the setup. Hit the ball with even a moderate brushing motion or "glancing blow" blow and you get wonderful spin.

I think that gut/poly is to spin as modern frames is to power. In both cases technology augments technique or physical ability. Modern frames allow weaker players to get the ball deep over the net while gut/poly allows we lower level rec players to hit with decent spin even though our technique and RHS isn't as good as more skilled players.

I also loved it in a full bed in a BLX 6.1 95 and in the 99s. Its so soft to me, it doesn't feel like a poly. I really don't think Luxilon designed it as a cross string. If they did, they would market it that way and sell it in half sets.

I've been meaning to write a similar review but you're much better at it than me. I've been playing with BBO for 4yrs now. So it was natural for me buy at set of 4G when it came out.

Less power, less spin... I did use my ATS ERT to measure the tension loss over 3wks in my bag(it went back in my bag after 10mins), and it does hold tension well. Other than that I have nothing good to say about this poly.